#x-31

[usafphantom2]

early 90s was peak NASA and you can’t change my mind

we won so hard there was nothing left to research early 90s was peak NASA and you can’t change my mind

we worked so hard there was nothing left to research

@lauriewired via X

[tenaciousdecapitator]

In hindsight, I think the most disappointing thing about Cavan Scott’s Gwenpool run was that the central premise of Gwen Stacy(‘s clone) returning as “Weapon X-31” is conceptually excellent for both drama and comedy purposes. It’s a shame that most of that potential was utterly wasted.

The Volume 11 run itself even points out the homage to/parody of past cases of supportive side characters becoming gritty antiheroes like Winter Soldier and Red Hood, and Clone Gwen Stacy’s new brooding Weapon X attitude works as both a contrast to her original self and to Gwen Poole’s zany humorous personality that masks her own existential worries. With that alone, you’ve got plenty to work with (provided you don’t shove Gwenpool aside to do yet another uninspired Spider-Angst plotline) but we can go even further with this idea. For example:

Consider the baseline difference between (Clone) Gwen Stacy and Gwendolyn Poole, beyond just their names and powers.

Gwen Stacy’s awareness of the wider Marvel Universe has been almost always confined within Peter Parker and by extension Spider-Man’s social orbit of heroes and villains. She knows (or at least knows the existence of) the founding members of his dedicated rogues gallery, some street-level vigilantes and a few Avengers, the Fantastic Four and maybe a handful of OG Mutants. However, since most of her memories are from a character who died in 1973 (and her later clone selves were mostly focused on Spider-Man during their brief lifespans) the fact of the matter is this:

“Weapon X-31” Gwen Stacy has NO idea what’s been going on for the last 50 years of Marvel Comics, wheras Gwendolyn Poole knows almost everything about almost everyone. And that, true believers, is a gold mine of comedy.

Gwen Stacy doesn’t know who Batroc the Leaper is, she’s never met Miles Morales, and she has no context for the decades of retcons and rebirths and wars that have shifted the status quo of her home city. Regardless of whatever discount Red Room combat training she got from Weapon X (keep in mind, unlike Bucky Barnes and Jason Todd, Gwen had no superhero-combat experience before her edgy rebirth) if she faced Gwenpool in a fight and had to suddenly deal with America Chavez, Kate Bishop and/or Julie Powers, she’d have no frame of reference and therefore be at a tactical disadvantage.

A more skilled writer than Cavan Scott could’ve done a lot more with the premise of Gwenpool threatened with a Weapon X version of Gwen Stacy’s clone (Subject the otherwise 4th Wall unaware Gwen to Duck Amuck levels of panel manipulation and prop comedy, go in a more somber direction with Gwenpool helping Clone Gwen deal with the existential nightmare of being the resurrection of a clone who was only brought back this time around for a cheap attention-desperate promotional stunt, have her actually meet the post-Winter Soldier version of Bucky, maybe a confrontation with Wolverine and the other Weapon X kids like Daken and Laura, keep Spider-Man as far from center focus as possible because this is the third time, Pete, nobody takes the Clone Saga seriously any more) and it’s unfortunate that we got stuck with this nothingburger of a comic run instead. Maybe in the future X-31 could return to be the Shadow to Gwenpool’s Sonic, but considering the current track record of side characters that aren’t Jeff returning from previous Gwenpool runs, I expect she’ll be showing up exclusively in fix-it fics.

[justalilcrafter]

I just found out that there is a new Gwenpool series but it features Gwen Stacy who was in the weapon X program so she is known as X-31

And yeah, this character needs to be a regressor, this girl needs a paci and blankie

Spoilers undercut

She literally dug up her casket to reveal Gwen Stacy's skeleton and had to find out she was a clone of a clone and yeah, she needs to regress and figure out who she is.

[comicwaren]

“Of course not, you mindless parody. Not Gwenpool. Never Gwenpool.” – X-31

Cover art for Gwenpool #001

Art by Chad Hardin and Edgar Delgado

[nocternalrandomness]

DFRC Fleet

A group photo of research aircraft at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Facility taken 1 Jan 1993. Left to right: a mock-up of the North American X-15, McDonnell Douglas F-18B Hornet, Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird, Rockwell MBB X-31, and Grumman X-29.

[worldofaviation]

X-31: Breaking the Chain

The X-31 research effort began in the late 1980s as an international program involving DARPA, the U.S. Navy, Deutsche Aerospace, the German Federal Ministry of Defense and Rockwell International. The program's goal was to explore the tactical utility of a... #flighttest #nasa #usnavy

[photoyage]

(March 1, 1994) The X-31 aircraft, on a research mission from NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, is flying nearly perpendicular to the flight path while performing the Herbst maneuver. Effectively using the entire airframe as a speed brake and using the aircraft's unique thrust vectoring system to maintain control, the pilot rapidly rolls the aircraft to reverse the direction of flight, completing the maneuver with acceleration back to high speed in the opposite direction. This type of turning capability could reduce the turning time of a fighter aircraft by 30 percent. Image # : EC94-42478-15

[usafphantom2]

X-31

@ILwheels via X